Shonda Rhimes Reimagines Greeting Cards for Minted

Written by Amy Schroeder

You may have asked yourself at some point, “How does Shonda Rhimes do it all?” As the creator and executive producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, the executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder,The Catch, and Untitled Shondaland Project, you could safely say she’s very busy. In 2015, Rhimes expanded her storytelling prowess with her first book, Year of Yes (Simon & Schuster), an instant New York Times bestseller that chronicles her humorous attempts to come out of her shell by saying “yes” to everything that scares her.

Shonda recently added another credential to her résumé: Greeting card writer. She submitted 23 lines of bold, invigorating copy (see her writing below) to the Better Together Minted Greeting Card Challenge, our first competition that shines an extra-bright spotlight on excellence in writing and design. We’ll select greeting cards to sell through major national retailers and boutiques via Minted Wholesale, on minted.com, and in the Minted retail store in San Francisco. In addition to contributing to the Greeting Card Challenge, Shonda will serve as a guest judge in the competition. The first phase of the competition was about writing, and the second phase is now about design. During the first phase, we ushered in writers to produce witty, funny, and heartfelt copy for a variety of occasions and sentiments (think: “birthday wishes,” “happy anniversary,” “congrats on getting married,” “happy holidays,” and more). Minted artists can now use Shonda’s copy or any other copy submitted by writers in greeting card designs for this Challenge. (See the copy submissions in the PDF titled “Part I – Writing Submissions” here in the Challenge Submission Kit.) Hurry! Design submissions close May 5, 2017.

We thought it only made sense to invite Shonda to participate in our Minted 50 campaign, a series of 50 creative projects over 50 consecutive days by 50 artists and creatives. Projects range from drawing to painting, photography to video, to any media an artist’s imagination will lead them. Each day we challenge a different artist to create something unique; on day 34, we asked Shonda to reimagine greeting cards with her own message.

Each project is designed to encourage everyday acts of creativity and collaboration, and anyone can participate. Minted CEO Mariam Naficy and actor Liev Schreiber kicked off the first challenge on March 15 with an exquisite corpse painting, a collaborative method of creating art. Projects range from painting to drawing, photography, and video to wherever their creative imagination takes them.

To develop the #Minted50 projects, we’ve partnered with Van’s General Store, the creative agency headed by Scott Carlson and Liev Schreiber, and VGS’s longtime friend and collaborator Andy Spade, creative leader and co-founder of Partners & Spade. At the end of 50 days, projects will be exhibited at the gallery of Van’s General Store in New York City, and auctioned off to benefit RxArt, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help children heal through the extraordinary power of visual art.

Join us in doing something creative every day. Participate in #Minted50 by reading more at minted.com/50.

Motherhood is the scariest, most dangerous hood. Thank you for moving in.

Brave. Bold. Outspoken. Mom. Adventurous. Driven. Fearless. Mama. Heroic. Audacious. Valiant. Mommy. Daring. Competitive. Powerful. Mother. (NOTE: I imagine this one as covering the front of the card and the “mom, mama, mommy, mother” words being somehow made to stand out in the sequence)

The hum is life, the hum is love, the hum is happiness, the hum is you.

Person Series

There is a person here on this planet for everyone. You are mine.

There is a family here on this planet for everyone. You are mine.

There is a mother out there for everyone. I am so happy the universe made you mine.

Alone Series (serious/funny)

You are not alone.

You are not alone. You will never be alone again. Because I’m your kid and that’s just not something I can allow.

Home Series

Your Arms Will Always Be Home

Your Smile Will Always Be Home

This Card Came From A Store.

Don’t Dream. Do.

Always Say Yes

Badassery

In All Forms Series

Clothes will never be ironed, brownies will never be home-baked, hair will never be braided, crafts will never be hot-glued, projects will never be sewn, photos will never be scrapbooked. Motherhood in all forms is perfect.

Brownies will always be home-made, clothes will always be starched, hair will be French-braided, crafts will be intricately hot-glued, projects will be bespoke, photos will be scrapbooked in seven different colors with two kinds of glitter. Motherhood in all forms is perfect.

Novels will be read. Walks will be taken. Naps will be shared. The house will be filthy. Motherhood in all forms is perfect.

Movies will be watched. The oven will never ever be used. Secrets will be shared. Motherhood in all forms is perfect.

Cookbooks will be tried cover to cover. Italian will be learned. Piano lessons, saxophone lessons, soccer camp, ballet conservatory. Poetry will be read aloud. Silly laughter will be welcome. Motherhood in all forms is perfect.

Pictures books will be read before bedtime. Heads will be kissed in the early morning. Faces will be seen on the phone screen at lunch. That is all there is time for and they are okay. Love is enough. Motherhood in all forms is perfect.